revelations
by derynsharp
Summary: in which Volger and Dr Barlow have a discussion and Alek thinks he is a Homosexual...
1. discussion

Dr Barlow was having tea with the count. She had felt him stare while mixing sugar into her tea and now looked up to meet his gaze.

"So…" count Volger began. Dr Barlow knew she was supposed to explain as to why he was called to her private quarters but waited for him to continue.

When he let the silence drag on she sighed. "Count Volger, What do you think about Mr. Dylan Sharp?"

the Loris perched on her shoulder muttered "Mr. sharp" and cackled .the count studied the doctor's face. Had she figured out the midshipman's secret? But as usual her face and voice gave nothing away. That was a trait of her's that he both admired and disliked.

He chose his words carefully. "Mr. sharp…"he said "personally I am glad for his presence. Aleksander needs the company I think…even if he is a commoner" he added as a second thought.

Dr Barlow smiled. She knew he didn't tell her everything he knew. She didn't expect him to. As always the man calculated every step, thought every minute detail through. She was both attracted to and frustrated by his manner. She decided to open upto him a little. To see what his response would be.

"They seem to have become fast friends…"she mused.

"Indeed. They have been through a lot together" count volger replied carefully.

"but…"said Dr Barlow thoughtfully, "there has been something bothering me" "it's the Loris…"she said "it was supposed to bond with the first person it sees...but it has bonded with both alek and Dylan…that was not supposed to happen"

Count Volger frowned. He wondered what this had to do with him. After all he despised all these godless creatures, although he had to admit the Loris was not too bad…not that he would admit it to anyone.

Seeing Dr Barlow's expectant gaze on him he felt the need to say something. "Maybe the creature is malfunctioning." he said and then immediately regretted saying so. But Dr Barlow waved aside the suggestion and said "I think not. If so there should be more signs. The egg's structure was well formed before the airship crashed…"she frowned "there is another way that a Loris's attachment could be split ….but for that to happen Mr. sharp and aleksander should be more than friends…very intimate…"count volger froze. The boffin's Loris muttered "Mr. Sharp" and giggled again.

Dr Barlow's eyes widened.


	2. fencing

Deryn sharp swore. Barking spiders! But this was annoying. For almost an hour alek had adjusted her body. Told her to shift from one foot to the other. Then started all over again because she held her sword wrong! "What exactly is the barking use of this?"She asked him  
>"a true warrior is always a skilled fencer" alek explained calmly.<br>Deryn snorted. "For what you dummkopf? To tickle the German walkers with a saber?"

Alek who had heard these complaints before went about adjusting her body.

He moved his hands up her waist towards the chest area and started adjusting. She almost gasped. The electric shock that travelled through her skin could have charged barking tesla cannon!

Deryn cursed. Why was it that this boy's slightest touch sent electricity running through her veins?

She took a deep breath and tried to get her chest to look flatter. An impossible task, according to her brother jaspert who was constantly annoying Deryn for her lack of smiled to herself when alek went about without noticing anything. Well ninny, see how useful that came in? She thought.

Alek walked away and placed himself in front of her.

She hoped she could look into those emerald green eyes of his without faltering, without giving her secret away…

She put on her most defiant face and faced her opponent.

A few minutes later she was covered in sweat and alek was smiling down at her. Her whole body throbbed. Yes he had used the dull edge of the saber but barking spiders! That thing could leave a good bruise!

He gave her a hand. She took it and hoisted herself up.

"Not bad" he said. "Get ready for the next round"

Deryn groaned.


	3. revelation

"No" Dr Barlow's face went pale.

Volger couldn't help but smirk. So this was what the boffin was like without her composure.

A nice change…he thought

Dylan Sharp? A woman? Dr Barlow couldn't believe that! If it was so she would have realized…right? She had suspected many things. She had suspected Dylan to be a homosexual, the looks he gave alek couldn't be explained otherwise…but a woman?

"I see you have just realized something Nora…"volger smiled.

"You knew?"Dr Barlow questioned. But of course he knew, she thought.

"I began to suspect during the fencing lessons I gave the girl" volger said

"But that was…" "Yes it was quite a long time ago."Volger smiled.

"She held herself wrong. Her stance was always incorrect." he told as if the girl's incorrect stance brought him pain. Dr Barlow suspected that it did. "And any mention of aleksander made our loyal midshipman's voice go up a few octaves" count volger said, his mouth hinting at a smile.

"Oh," "I once caught her shaving"Dr Barlow smiled "halfway through her shave and her face was as smooth as cream…I should have guessed…"

"I first suspected her to be a homosexual "the count said. "Indeed. So did I"

"I am guessing that aleksander does not know…."

"of course not Madame,…I Cannot let history repeat itself can I?"Volger replied with a sigh.

Dr Barlow looked up. The first signs of emotion, she thought.

Count Volger was displeased. He had gone too far. Just because he liked the woman did not mean that she wasn't the enemy. He stood up.

"Well then good afternoon Madame." The count lifted her hand to his lips and departed with a swish of his cloak.

Dr Barlow sighed.

This was unexpected, she thought. First Dylan Sharp turns out to be a woman and now she, a boffin, not just a boffin, Charles Darwin's grand daughter was falling for a clanker


	4. dreams

Alek woke up in a sweat. He gasped for breath. Not again! He cursed under his breath. What was happening to him? Another night, another dream…it was going out of control!

Bovril murmured next to him "Mr. Sharp" and gave a faint giggle.

Alek groaned. "Exactly! Mr. Sharp! How could I have dreams about him?"Dreams like this? He thought

Bovril just giggled next to him.

Alek slumped back onto the bed. For nights he had been having dreams about his friend. His male friend, Dylan. Dreams in which they were… "Oh god" now that he was awake he didn't even want to think about it!

He thought about what volger would say if he got to know that he, prince aleksander, heir to the throne of Austria Hungary was a homosexual. He almost choked. He had been trying to avoid the term but it was obvious now, he was indeed attracted to men…one man in particular. His best friend Dylan Sharp.

He drifted back to sleep. A sleep filled with sky blue eyes and blonde hair…

Deryn sharp twisted around in her sleep. She cried out. The hot air balloon had caught fire. Her Da was in it! Why did he push her out of the basket? Why wasn't anyone letting her go towards it? Didn't they understand that her father was in the balloon? She screamed and woke up.

She looked around the room, trembling.

Deryn sharp could climb ropes, dangle in the air with only a strap of leather to stop her from plummeting to her death, she could spit swear and fight as well as any man but her father's death left her as vulnerable as a little child. Her Da was everything to her and he died doing what he loved…flying. And here she was, his daughter who he saved from a fiery death, doing what had killed her what had turned her life upside down.

What had happened to Newkirk had left her dead shattered. She shuddered when she recalled the smell of burning hydrogen, the dead Huxley and Newkirk hanging from the beastie's seat as if dead. Never, she told herself, never would she let what happened to her Da happen to anyone else she cared about.


	5. emotions

Hey guys I am so sorry.i totally forgot to say all of these in the previous chapters! To tell you the truth that was because I was dead nervous! It was like my first attempt ever!

1. i need your reviews if I've done horribly please tell me!

2. Sadly I don't own anything everything belongs to the AMAZING Scott Westerfeld

3. I love Scott Westerfeld and can't wait for GOLIATH!

A soft knock awoke prince aleksander from his sleep. He groaned and thought back to the days when his servants didn't dare walk past his room for fear of waking him up! "Come in" he said groggily wondering who would wake him up at this ungodly hour!Probably Volger for another one of his fencing lessons!That man becomes more unbearable the more he lives. And then he sat up straight. Because in front of him was Dylan. His friend Dylan he thought. His "male" friend Dylan.

"Alek are you alright?"

He blushed some more. "Yes. Of course" he said. "but I would feel better if you hadn't woken me up at this ungodly hour!" there he thought. Much better.

Dylan laughed. A beautiful laugh…Alek felt like slapping himself. It was one thing to like him. But to act like a dummkopf? in front of him? His friend would run a mile if he knew what alek thought of him! Alek was sure about that. He could not imagine a person straighter than Dylan Sharp!

"What is wrong your princeliness? Never woken up at this time before have you?" Dylan taunted.

Oh God! He thought. He was a prince! How could two kings rule the country at the same time? It would be the biggest scandal ever! It might even cause another war! Not for the first time prince Aleksander Ferdinand wished that he was born a commoner.

"Um Alek? Are you even listening to me?"

"What? What?"… "Oh yes?"

She sighed. So much for being in love with the barking prince, He doesn't even listen to what she says!

When Alek looked up again Dylan was nowhere in sight.

He slumped back onto the bed.

Bovril who was half asleep murmured "not good, not good"

She knew storming out of his room was stupid. And unmanly. She knew it was a woman's behavior, but barking spiders it hurts when the man you are in love with completely ignores you! "And doesn't even know that you are a woman" a small voice inside her head told her.

Because she couldn't cry, she swore.


	6. questions

She didn't understand. And she didn't like not understanding. Why would a girl go through all that trouble just to join the army? Dr. Barlow knew that she didn't enjoy the massacre around her, didn't gain joy from watching others die.

So why? Why would she bind her chest? Wear men's clothes? She wasn't mad…well not much anyway; she decided the only option left was to confront the rogue midshipman.

She heard the door to the engine room opening. She didn't look back. She was too busy praying that it wouldn't be Alek. Not after she had run away from his room like that. She wondered how she was going to explain that to him…

It was while she was lost in thought that something came hurtling up to her and started licking her. Tazza. Perfect! She thought. It was not that she disliked the thyacline, but its presence always meant that the infuriating boffin was nearby.

"Shirking duties Mr. Sharp?" a voice called behind her.

She held back a groan and grudgingly stood up.

"Good Morning ma'am"

"Good Morning Mr. Sharp"

She knew at once that there was something wrong. The sparkle in the girl's eyes was gone. The sarcasm which underlined most of her words? It was missing. Dr. Barlow was filled with sympathy for the girl. She knew what it was like for a woman in a man's world. But this? To live a lie? To fight against nature? To hide from the man she loved?

Dr. Barlow looked at the girl in front of her. She wondered how she had never noticed the blue eyes, the smooth, soft face. She scanned her body for more signs that could have given her away. Why! The girl hardly had a chest. She wondered whether she was malnourished or whether she was even younger than her fifteen years…

Deryn Sharp drew in a sharp breath.

She knew that look.

The Boffin was scrutinizing her…as if to see how she missed the glaring fact that the midshipman in front of her was not a man…


	7. thoughts

Count Volger hated people who paced around rooms. He always thought that they were to be blamed for all the carpets going bare. He thought it was a waste of time. Pacing around a room never solved any problems.

And yet here he was. Pacing around the room for about the twentieth time.

Nora Barlow. There was something about that woman, it intoxicated him! The feminity, the brains, the strength, and the power all rolled up in one shapely figure. Oh yes. It intoxicated him.

But…How? How could he be involved, even think of being involved with a Darwinist? Not just a Darwinist, but a creator of the godless creatures he was taught to fear? A boffin? He shuddered at the thought.

Try as he might he couldn't get her out of his mind.

Count Volger had never experienced love, never felt it before. Never before had a woman held his interest for too long. Never before had his thoughts lingered on one woman for a period of time.

That was probably the reason why he never understood the late archduke of Austria- Hungary. Try as he might, he never understood why Franz Ferdinand risked the wrath of his family, by marrying a commoner. He never understood why he always stood up for her, protected her from every harm and danger, even at his own risk…

"I love her Volger, can't you see? I love her" Franz Ferdinand had tried to explain to his friend more than once.

Love…was it worth all the trouble?

He thought of himself, count Volger marrying Nora Barlow. The horrified faces of his friends and family. The snubbing of the locals. He shuddered.

It wasn't worth it…

The door opened.

"I knocked but my guess is that you did not hear me…"

He looked at her smile.

Maybe it was worth all that, he thought.

*This was like totally the hardest chapter to write. I am like in the car and at this moment going down this VERY rough road. I keep typing wrong!


	8. decisions

**Wow! I had no idea who's POV I should write from! Never been so blocked in my life! And then I thought I'll use Bovril :) **

**Help me everyone because I am STUCK! And I'm sorry for not updating but me and my family were on vacation! YAY :) **

Bovril sat huddled up in a corner of the bed. What a day, he thought.

He snuggled down hear the sheets and recounted all the interesting happenings.

Well, to begin with there had been the time that "Mr." Sharp had stormed out of the prince's room. He was quite upset about that actually… He quite liked "Mr."Sharp. Oh yes, yes he did. She was very smart. Oh! To dress up as a man and join the military… very smart. He chuckled. Oh to think she has almost everyone fooled! Humans were so stupid! They thought they were so smart…he could die laughing! Just take his master, Aleksander for example! Why, he was sure that master wouldn't realize that "Mr." Sharp was a "miss" even if he saw her naked!

Why Miss Sharp fancied the prince, Bovril had no idea. Oh yes, he knew that too! He wasn't a (now what was it that "Mr." Sharp always said?) Dummkopf! He knew that "Mr." Sharp fancied the prince. She wouldn't have been hiding in the engine room upset if she didn't!

And that was of course the second interesting thing that had happened.

Bovril chuckled again. Oh yes, he had his sources… very resourceful he was. Perspicacious! That was the word! He knew about the incident in the engine room. Dr. Barlow, "the clever boots" had finally figured it out. About time, Bovril thought. Why! The thoughts that were running through the woman's head had him laughing for days! She actually thought that "Mr." Sharp was a homosexual! Barking Spiders! Wasn't that funny? Talking about homosexuals, Bovril couldn't help chuckling again. He thought about his poor master, it was actually very funny how he worried himself everyday about the fact that he liked men. One "man" in particular. Oh if he knew the truth!

He looked at the prince, curled up in bed, more upset than ever before and decided.

He was going to help.

.After all, he was the smartest.


End file.
